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25 big ideas for 2012: The car as app

This article was taken from the January 2012 issue of Wired magazine. Be the first to read Wired's articles in print before they're posted online, and get your hands on loads of additional content by subscribing online. "Henry Ford made transportation accessible to everyone," says Jason Johnson, a product-development engineer at Ford. "We want to do the same with technology."

They're not alone: General Motors' OnStar team has developed apps that allow customers to unlock car doors and check fuel levels and tyre pressure using smartphones. Nissan's all-electric Leaf uses a mobile app to warm or cool the cabin, track the vehicle's battery charge and view driving range. And BMWunveiled the i3 in September, a carbon-fibre city car due on sale in 2013, the entire philosophy of which is underpinned by mobile connectivity: smart parking, satnavs, up-to-date information on public transport and car-sharing facilities will all be part of an evolving phone-based package.

Perhaps with an eye on the rocketing value of tech stock, BMW has also launched a New York-based venture capital company, BMW i Ventures, that aims to spot and fund quick-thinking tech startups as personal mobility technology gathers pace.

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Ford is busy rebranding itself as a technology company. The sea change at the blue oval began at 2007's Consumer Electronics Show (CES) Awards, when Bill Gates and the newly installed Ford CEO Alan Mulally, a former Boeing executive vice president, announced a joint tech programme called SYNC. An in-car Windows-operated platform that runs apps, it initially just worked via USB and Bluetooth. SYNC has received regular upgrades and now operates in tandem with a user interface called MyFord Touch, which can be operated by voice command, a five-way button on the steering wheel or an eight-inch touchscreen at the top of your cars' centre console. "We're striving for simplicity," says Johnson. "Our mantra is

'hands on the wheel, eyes on the road.' The previous system recognised 100 commands, now it's 10,000." The technology works with UK, US and Australian English, plus 19 other languages.

Crucially, SYNC can accept the same volume of software upgrades as any comparable piece of hardware, and Johnson is confident of its lifespan in terms of technology, durability and future-proofing. "Will someone be driving this car in 20 years' time? Of course," he says. "And if the stuff in it now isn't working, we'll offer a software upgrade."

But delivering an iPhone-like swipe screen is trickier. "Temperature and humidity are major issues," says Johnson. "Cars have to work in extreme temperature ranges.

Customers in some territories drive wearing gloves so the need to be able to operate the systems with them on. Our products are designed and engineered to last for ten years or 100,000 miles.